Rail fastener



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Oct. 20, 1942. L. SPENCER RAIL FASTENER Filed Dec. 17, 1941 0a. 20,1942. L. SPENCER 2,299,354

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Patented Oct. 20, 1942 UNITED STATES .i A'iE FElCE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of rail fasteners in general, havingmore specific reference to what is believed to be an innovation in thisline of endeavor, the adaptation thereof being aptly suited to achievedesired results with requisite certainty and expediency.

In order that the nature of the invention may be best understood andsatisfactorily contrasted with present day methods and commonly utilizedfasteners, I feel disposed, at the outset, to direct attention toexisting conditions, whereby to permit the reader to better understandand appreciate the points of novelty, structurally and functionally,which characterize the hereinafter described contribution to the art.

At points of very heavy traffic coupled with sharp curvature, railsrequire frequent renewal, either by transposing the rail from one sideto the other to equalize curve wear or are replaced out of face, and inany case with track as it is now constructed requiring considerablelabor expense to release the rail, and generally under the conditionsnoted there are at least two spikes to pull or bolts to loosen. Wherespikes are used, the spike holes require plugging before the rail isreplaced, and the spikes redriven, and it is a well known fact that tieshave shorter service life under these conditions than the average, thisresulting from a condition known as spike-killing, and is a directresult of this pulling and driving of the rail holding spikes. Thisoperation so breaks the wood fibers surrounding the spike that in timethe spike can no, longer perform the purpose for which it is intended,that is, to hold the rail in the proper position.

Upon close examination of the ties removed, it will be revealed that,except for the small area under the rail base, the tie or timber is in astate of good preservation and would render many more years of service,and even those ties that are removed because of decay will show thatthis decay started from this same area and from the same abuse. Thisdestruction of the Wood fiber around the spike allows easy entrance ofwater and the elements to the center and untreated portion of the tie;and in nearly every case this condition is still further aggravated byplate cutting or mechanical wear. If the figures released byexperts-that about 45 per cent of the ties removed were taken out forspike-killing and I nearly the same amount for mechanical Wear, platecutting, checking, etc.are accepted as general, there is a field ofgreat savings if these two items be reduced or eliminated.

The common track spike, one of the earliest has certain advantages overall the above devices.

'Cheapness and ease of application first of all,

and the one great advantage that after a certain period of time it willraise away from contact with the rail base and allow the rail a certainfreedom of movement vertically, or, stated in another way, an allowancefor the fact that in all track there exists a certain amount of wavemotion of the rail which if confined by the rail holding spike or otherdevice will cause the track to pump or churn. Along with its goodpoints, the spike has several bad faults, one of them being that itrequires removal in order to release the rail; another, as the shank isgenerally in contact with the rail base there is a certain amount ofthis motion transmitted to the spike causing it to work upward out ofthe tie and requiring repeated hitting down into place, this, too,breaking the wood fibers and constituting another cause of spike-killingand indirectly, de-

cay.

Having in mind the foregoing relevant factors and circumstances, andafter due deliberation and study, I have evolved and. produced animproved assemblage characterized by an appropriate foundation,generally a wooden tie with a more or less conventional tie platefastened thereon, the base flange of the rail resting on the tie plate,there being a key carried by said base flange, and said plate having akeyway to accommodate the coacting portion of the key. Using a tie plateof sufiicient area such as will not sink into the tie under a load, andproperly anchoring this plate on the tie by full throated spikes so thatshifting of the plate is prevented, and using my improved rail retaineror fastener to hold the rail, and by thus eliminating spikekilling andthe aforementioned factors, and incorporating the good points of theconventional track spike, while at the same time discarding the faultsof said track spike, I have thus perfected what is believed to be a newand novel rail fastener.

There are many other features and advantages to be touched upon, butthese will be included in the concluding portion of the descriptionwhereby to enable the reader to better comprehend the claims predicatedthereon.

In the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals are employed todesignate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing a portion of a woodenrail tie, the specially designed rail plate superimposed thereon, the

upstanding lug conventional rail, and the novel fastener in operativeposition in full lines and in other progressive positions in dottedlines, the section being taken on the plane of the line l-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the arrangementdepicted in Figure 1, theview being on a smaller scale and showing the assemblage with parts infull operative position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the specially designed detachable key,that is, the retention element or part which is adapted to embrace andbe carried by the base flange of the rail.

Figure 4 is a cross-section on the plane of the line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a vertical section on the plane of practice this plate isrouted out to provide a longitudinally elongated somewhat centralizedslot 23. One end of 23 is slightly wide and is beveled as at 24 to pilotthe shank portion of the key I into the slot. The opposite end portionis narrower and the opposite longitudinal edges are undercut as at 25 toprovide suitable retention shoulders. Thus, the meeting faces of theshank and slot are corresponding in shape tocoincide. It is notnecessary that the keyway portion of the slot and the key be dovetailedin crosssection. In other words, any other cross-sectional shape may beutilized as long as the retention shoulders on the key unthe line 5 ofFigure 1, said view serving to emphasize the daylight spacing betweenthe plate and the key and utilized for achieving a wave motion featurehereinafter described.

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of the preferred embodiment of therail or tie plate perfected in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

Figure 7 is a view like Figure 1 disclosing a modification.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary detail view showing the arrangement utilizedwhen the parts are in metal-to-metal contact such as is the case whenthe wave motion feature is eliminated.

Reference being had to the illustrative draw- :ings, and as beforestated, the arrangement comprises broadly a base orfoundationcharacterized by a wooden tie and a tie plate thereon, anda rail, therail being provided with a key and there being coacting retention orinterlocking features between the plate and key, whereby to anchor andthus fasten the rail on the foundation. 7

The rail is denoted by the numeral 9 and is conventional. The relativelymovable retention or fastener element is broadly a key I0 and this ispreferably a detachable part, the opposite ends thereof being releasablyconnected with the base flange of the rail and the intermediate orshank'portion constituting the retention key. The shank, which islongitudinally elongated, is denoted by the numeral II. It is taperedfrom left to right," that is, reduced in vertical dimension, on aslight-curve, as indicated at I2. It is preferably dovetailed incross-sectional form, the'longitudinal side faces or edges [3 beingdenoted as beveled. It will be understood, however, that any type ofretention shoulders or keying elements will serve the purpose. At therelatively reduced righthand end there is an M which functions as adetent,this being adapted to snap up and around the adjacentlongitudinal edge of the base flange of the rail. At the opposite end isa return bend l6 defining an overhanging limb or reach arm I1 slightlythickened at its free or terminal end, as at I8, to contact and restupon the top side of the adjacent half of the base flange l5, as broughtout to advantage in Figure 1 of the drawings. Thus, we have visualizedthe rail and the detachable key. It] carried thereby.

The conventional wooden tie'is denoted by the numeral 19. The metal tieor rail plate, which is seated and fastened thereon, is denoted by thenumeral 29. This part is shown to advantage in Figure 6 and preferablycomprises a somewhat conventional rectangular plate provided withopenings or apertures 2| to accommodate the spikes or equivalentfasteners 22. In

derlie and properly coact with the undercut shoulders forming theopposite longitudinal side walls of the slot or keyway. At one end ofthe slot we find lugs or coacting ribs 26 and 21 serving as upstandingabutments for the adjacent edge of the base flange of the rail. At theopposite end portion of the slot there is a similar transverse abutmentor rib 28 whose central portion 29 bridges the underlying keyway orslot. 7

In practice the shank of the keying unit is slipped under the baseflange of the rail and the detent rises slightly and snaps intoposition, as brought out to advantage in the progressive dotted and fullline showings in Figure 1. The return bend and limb at the left hand endconstitute a hook which effectively embraces the adjacent orintermediateportion ,29 of the abutment 28. As brought out in thedrawings, particularly Figures 1 and 5, there is suflicient spacebetween the parts to provide the necessary play or daylight toaccomplish the aforementioned wave motion and to at the same time obtainthe equally desirable interlocking effect. I desire to emphasize theso-called key and keyway assembly wherein the retention shoulders orfaces arespaced slightly from each other. The degree of spacing is ofcourse variable, but in any event, sufficient space between the parts isprovided for in order to allow the desired play.

Now in Figure 8 the parts are designated by the same numerals alreadyutilized to avoid needless repetition. The only point to be made here isthat in Figure 8 there is metal-to-metal contact between the coacting orinterlocking surfaces of the key and keyway and the hook on the key andthe bridging portion 29 of the abutment 28. This tight fit or rigidarrangement is utilized in such instances where experts have deemed itadvisable to utilize rigid anchorage as distinguished from the wavemotion principle of anchorage. 7

Reference being had now to Fig. 7 of the drawings, everything is thesamehere as already described, except that the left hand abutment on thetop of the tie plate 20 is, in two parts, In other words, the companionparts are denoted by thenumerals 38. That is to say, there is no portionof the abutment actually bridging the slot or keyway. It is notnecessary in all instances to use the bridging feature depicted inFigures 5, 6 and 8. It has been found sufiicient in certaincircumstances to simply rely on the interlocking result attainable bythe coaction of the undercut retention shoulders in the keyway and thecoacting retention faces on the shank portion of the key. Some preferthis arrangement over that represented with particularity in Figure 1.However, the principle is basically the same. V

It is within the purview of the invention to employ any appropriatedesign of tie plate construction so long as the same is characterized bya body having a slot constituting a keyway and transversely disposedparallel ribs or equivalent parts serving as abutments between which thebase flange of the rail is placed for proper retention in place. No railholding spikes are needed. This means that there are no rail holdingspikes to pull to relay or change out a rail. The tie plate may beattached by bolts, spikes or lag screws or the like. It is evident, too,that wave motion of the rail is allowed or restricted and is held withinand controlled within limits considered advisable at the time ofmanufacture. By making the tie plate and the tie act as one unit and therail and the rail clip or key as another unit, these two units eitherflexibly or rigidly interlock the parts desired relation to each otherwith the result that there is very limited wear and no adjustment andvirtually a minimum of expense to maintain. It is evident, too, that therail will be held precisely as laid in the first instance. We requireonly a spike maul to drive the key IE3 into place or to remove it. Theuse of a punch against the detent l4 and the maul permits easy removal.The keying unit can be slipped into place by hand, as shown to the leftin dotted lines in Figure 1.

It is evident, too, that the creeping is prevented in both directions.What is more, there is nothing new for trackrnen to learn, as they arealready familiar with the principal parts, that is, tie, tie plate, andan anti-creeper which is very much the same in design as that used forthe key unit in Figure 3 of the drawings.

As regards the so-called foundation hereinbefore broadly referred to, itis understood that it is within the purview of this invention to em.-ploy a hollow metal tie, the upper plate of which (not shown) would beproperly slotted or constructed to correspond to the tie plate shown inFigure 6. Since the fundamental principle would be the same, it has beenthought unnecessary to further encumber the drawings to depict thiswithin the range of the invention modification.

Changes in shape, size and rearrangement of parts such as come withinthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims may beresorted to in actual practice, as is understood.

In conclusion, it is to be noted that this application is a continuationin part of co-pending application Serial No. 349,175 which matured intoPatent 2,276,799, said application having been filed August 1, 1940, andthe patent having issued March 17, 1942.

I claim:

1. In a structure of the class described, a tie, a tie-plate on saidtie, said tie-plate having a slot and being provided with parallelupstanding abutment shoulders, there being shoulders at one end of theslot and another shoulder at the intermediate portion of the slot, aportion of the latter shoulder spanning said slot, that portion of theslot between the respective shoulders havin its longitudinal edgesunder-cut to provide retention shoulders, and a detachable key membercomprising a shank fitting in said slot, the longitudinal edges of theshank being shaped to coact with the retention shoulders, one end of theshank having an upstanding detent, the opposite end being formed with ahook, the hook embracing that portion of the abutment shoulder whichspans the slot.

2. In a structural assemblage of the class described, a rail foundationhaving a portion thereof provided with a slot, a, rail flange abutmentsaid slot, one end of the shank having an upstanding detent to engagethe base flange of said rail, the opposite end being formed into a hookto embrace the opposite edge of the base flange of the rail, the crotchportion of said hook being adapted to embrace said retaining element.

3. In a structural assemblage of the class described, a rail foundationhaving a portion thereof provided with a slot, upstanding abutments onsaid foundation at opposite end portions of the slot, said abutmentsbeing adapted to accommodate and receive the conventional rail flangetherebetween, the opposite longitudinal edges of the slot being undercutto provide key receiving and retention shoulders, a one-piece unitaryrail carried detachable key including a shank underlying the base flangeof the rail, the shank having an integral upstanding detent at one endreleasably engageable with an adjacent edge of the base flange and a.hook at the opposite end also releasably engageable with the baseflange, the shank being of cross-sectional shape corresponding to thecross-sectional shape of the slot.

4. In a wave motion rail, tie and interconnecting assemblage of theclass described, a rail tie construction provided with a horizontallydisposed longitudinally elongated slot having its opposed side edgesformed to provide undercut retention shoulders, a rail, said rail beingremovably seated upon the tie construction and bridging the slot, and adetachable key member comprising a shank fitting in said slot, theopposite longitudinal edges of the shank being shaped to underlie andreleasably coact with the aforesaid retention shoulders to limitrelative vertical movement, one end of the shank having a relativelyshort integral upstanding detent engaging an adjacent edge portion ofthe base flange of the rail, the other end of said shank being providedwith a hook embracing the other edge portion of said base flange, theterminal bill portion of the hook resting releasably on an adjacent topsurface of said base flange.

5. In a structural assemblage of the class described, a rail foundationhaving a portion thereof provided with a slot, rail flange abutmentmeans with which one edge of the rail flange is engageable, saidabutment means having a portion overlying said slot to provide aretaining element, and a detachable key member adapted to be connectedto and carried by the base flange of the conventional rail, said keymember comprising a shank fitting slidably and removably in said slotafter the rail is in a position bridging the slot, one end of the shankhaving an upturned end forming a detent to releasably snap over andengage the adjacent edge of the base flange of said rail, the oppositeend being formed into a hook to embrace the opposite edge of the baseflange of the rail, the crotch portion of said hook being adapted toembrace said retaining element.

6. As a new article of manufacture and as a component part of a rail andthe assemblage of the class described, a. one-piece rail base flangeanchoring key comprising a. longitudinally elongated shank verticallytapering toward one end and terminating in an' upturned relatively shortvertical lug constituting a detent, the opposite longitudinal sidesurfaces of said shank being downwardly diverging to form retentionshoulders, the opposite end of said shank being fashioned into a returnbend constituting a rail flange embracing hook, the bill portion of thehook overlying the shank in vertically spaced relation.

7. As a new article of manufacture and as a component part of anassemblage of the class described, a rail plate of general rectangularform, said plate having a central longitudinally extending slot andopposed longitudinal edge portions of said slot being undercut toprovide key retention shoulders, a pair of upstanding aligned abutmentelements on the top face of the plate at one end portion of the slot, athird upstanding abutment element also on the top of the plate andlocated at a point intermediate the ends of the slot, the central'portion of said lastnamed abutment element spanning the underlyingportion of the slot in the manner and for the purposes described.

8. A rail base structure having a horizontally elongated slot adapted tofunction as a key-Way, a conventional rail having its bottom flangeseated on said base structure and bridging the key-way, a one-piece railfastening key removably fitting in said key-way, said key embodying ashank extending beneath and crosswise of the bottom flange, and saidshank having integral end members at its opposite ends releasably andfrictionally connected with the opposite longitudinal edge portions ofsaid bottom flange, and coacting portions between the slotted basestructure and said shank for limiting relative vertical movement of thekey to said base structure.

LEE SPENCER

